Ananya Joshi went to the US in 2022 to pursue her master's. She got a job but her employer could not sponsor her H-1B visa and eventually, she had to leave the US. But now after working in Germany, Joshi is in two minds about returning to the US because the uncertainty is still there. Instead, she wants to go back to India and start something of her own. In an interview with Business Insider, Joshi explained how dear the American Dream was to her. She grew up seeing a little Statue of Liberty souvenir. Her father saved for years to finance her American degree, as it was initially his dream that he could not fulfil.
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In 2022, Ananya moved to Illinois for her master's in biotechnology at Northwestern University; she graduated in 2024, worked for some time on F1 OPT and then had to leave her $ 75,000-a-year job.
"My company, which had initially promised to help me apply for an H-1B visa, realized it couldn't keep the promise. The company said it couldn't complete E-Verify, the federal employment verification system. My OPT was about to expire in July 2025, and I wasn't able to devote time to job hunting because of my heavy workload. In May 2025, I told the company I would like to resign or work part-time because I need those last two months to figure things out. I got let go the next day," Joshi said.
"I started applying for jobs in cities around the world, focusing mostly on the US but also in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Even after getting about 20 interviews and making it to the fourth round multiple times, I was still not getting a job. This took place between May and July 2025, when immigration turbulence was starting to rise in the US."
"I got two job offers, one from a company in Germany and the other from Canada. People around me spoke highly about the stability of Germany and all its labor laws, and having gone through so much, I realized I needed that stability. So, in January this year, I moved to Rostock, a small city about three hours north of Berlin, to work at another lab-grown meat startup," Joshi said.
Life in a small city in Germany, compared to New Delhi and Chicago
Joshi said life never seemed slow in New Delhi and Chicago and so adjusting to a small city in Germany has been difficult. But Rostock is cleaner, safer with walkable streets, a beautiful beach and a jungle train. "But it's a small place, and there's not that much to do. The language barrier is a problem too; English is spoken at work, but it's all in German outside. I've started taking German classes," she said.
"It's also not the best place for connectivity. The nearest airports are Hamburg and Berlin, both more than three hours away. As an immigrant, being able to travel easily matters a lot to me, especially if I need to fly out quickly."
From American Dream to Make in India
Joshi's boyfriend is in the US and she said she's super confused about what the future holds. One part of her wants to go back to the US but "I can't forget what I went through. It doesn't feel smart to move back until things look more promising", she said. So instead of the set path of H-1B to Green Card, she is now considering a future in India -- in Mumbai or Bangalore. "India is close to the US in terms of opportunities, and there is so much potential to continue growing my career there," she said.
